Undergraduate Area of study: Engineering/Technology
Total MCAT SCORE: 516
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 130,
CARS 126
Overall GPA: 3.40
Science GPA: 3.40
Summary of Application Experience
Will add more details after cycle ends
Applied, Rejected
University of California, San Francisco
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 08/10/2013
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: 09/29/2013
Summary of Experience:
Rejected pre-secondary. Was a little surprising as I have lots of experience w/ underserved communities, however I think my weak research was the reason.
Summary of Experience:
Despite having no ties, I applied here because their website says that out of area applicants with socioeconomic/educational disadvantages will be considered. Received an email later saying that I was rejected since I'm not in the area. I replied asking them about the validity of the info on their website, to which I received no response.
Summary of Experience:
Complete silence since secondary submission. Sent an update letter right before the final interview decisions date that was added to my file.
Never formally rejected (no status change), but I received an email stating that UCI would be unable to offer me an interview or admission this cycle. Instead, they offered to consider me for the conditional acceptance program; essentially a trial run of 3 MS1 classes to test my mettle, and should I prove worthy, guaranteed acceptance to the following UCI SOM class.
Interviews for that program in late May, and my best option for another gap year, should I not get into any of my other schools.
Summary of Experience:
Never received any primary complete or secondary app invite. Discovered I could check my status on their site in November and that I had access to the secondary since September. Contemplating whether the completing the secondary at this point is worth it.
12/1: Completed the secondary and submitted. Not expecting much though
Summary of Experience:
Dream school. Applied with a very unique set of circumstances/experiences/skills that I thought would be appreciated, but rejected post-secondary.
Summary of Experience:
Was my top choice going into the cycle for the weather, opportunities, and the fact that a lot of my friends are in the SD area, including one who attends UCSD SOM.
Difficult news to be waitlisted, especially since I felt like I have a good combination of stats and "fit" with the school, as well as a decent showing during the MMI.
Hoping for some good news eventually, but since they only accept 20-25 people from the WL, I'm not holding my breath.
Summary of Experience:
Beautiful campus and area, extremely friendly people, unique opportunities for healthcare policy. Also, the MD/MS Engineering program is a big plus for me, since I'm heavily considering working within the scope of engineering. I like the idea of being able to engineer solutions that I might face firsthand in practice and help further the medical field in that way. I like the small class size and the curriculum seems very strong at preparing students for both USMLE and clinical practice.
I have my reservations about spending more time in a rural setting vs. experiencing a more active city, and the patient population seems limited. However, since they do draw from a large area and they grant your opportunities to rotate in communities across the country, these perceived drawbacks may be unfounded.
Summary of Experience:
Love the location and facilities. The students I met were very down-to-earth and immensely happy. I like that the school (from what I gathered) is much more focused on community impact rather than academics/research (though there is a lot of support for doing research too) since I see myself as a community physician more than an academic one.
It is definitely the most expensive school I applied to, however, and far from home.
Summary of Experience:
Received II email 8 days after status change was up on the applicant portal.
SJV Program - Invited for Skype interview on 12/12
UCD interview was awesome. The facilities were nice, but the staff and faculty went above and beyond to make me feel welcome and showcase the atmosphere of the school. It's also the closest school to my immediate family, and I believe my cheapest in-state option.
WL
5/28: Accepted via phone call. First one, and I can finally rest easy knowing that I am going to be a physician.
5/29: Offered a $25k per year scholarship. Floored to receive such generosity.
6/27: Matriculating here. My scholarship offer was increased by $10k per year after UCLA offered me an acceptance, and UCLA refused to keep up.
From one of my posts on SDN: "Though the money was the primary factor (it would've cost me $90k more to attend UCLA), what really sold me was the administration. Dr. Sousa at UCD made himself available even through his private number to discuss my thoughts and considerations, while I couldn't get past reception in the UCLA admissions office to speak to a counselor after asking multiple times. The financial aid office at UCD was also much more sympathetic to my concerns than at UCLA, though Ms. Ornelas in the UCLA fin aid office was a huge help in getting my estimate processed as quickly as possible. Overall, UCD made me feel like they really wanted me there, while UCLA was more like "Well, you can come here if you want to!" "
Summary of Experience:
Amazing school and by far my top choice post-interview. Lowest amount of lecture time of any med school (10am-12pm?), P/F first two years and changing to H/P/F for clinicals, rotations at awesome hospitals, excellent professors. The students were very bright and friendly, and definitely the most relaxed group I met on the interview trail. Moreover, my significant other has been selected for a fairly exclusive job in the area, I have lots of extended family nearby, and a unique opportunity with regards to living arrangements.
With regard to the MMIs, I felt like I did poorly on two particular stations (though that seemed to be the consensus among my fellow interviewees as well), but very well on the rest.
UCLA is the perfect school for me in terms of academics and external support.
Only problem I have with the school is my loathe of traffic! But I'd be willing to deal ;)
6/25: Accepted via status change today. Cannot believe it. Gonna be a tough decision....
6/27: After a whirlwind two days of being torn between UCLA and UCD, I chose to decline my acceptance to UCLA. It would have cost me about $100k (pre-interest) more to attend, since they wouldn't match UCD's generous offer. Though UCLA was my top choice, I just couldn't say no to paying basically $2,000 tuition at UCD. Perhaps I'll see you in residency, UCLA!